LINCOLN, Neb. — A 10-year-old Nebraska boy cared for and kept his father alive for more than a week after the man slipped on a wet floor in their Lincoln home, struck his head and became unresponsive.
Peter Asumani told a police investigator that he fed his father, 45-year-old Bienvenu Asumani, and gave him liquids, investigator Cynthia Koenig-Warnke said in affidavit filed in Lancaster County Juvenile Court. The investigator went to the family’s home Friday after the boy’s principal called police to report that he hadn’t been in school for four days, Lincoln police spokeswoman Katie Flood said.
Asumani was breathing and his eyes were open, but he didn’t respond to any questions, Koenig-Warnke said in the affidavit.
He was taken to Bryan Medical Center West hospital, while his son was placed in state custody. Hospital spokeswoman Lori Lee said Monday that she had no information on Asumani.
Peter said he couldn’t communicate with his father during the ordeal. The two lived alone in the house. Flood said it wasn’t clear whether the boy knew about the 911 phone system that he could have used to summon help or whether he tried to contact a neighbor or anyone else for help.
Russ Reno, a spokesman, for the Nebraska Health and Human Services Department would confirm only that the boy was in foster care on Monday. Reno wouldn’t comment directly on the case but said it was routine in such cases for the department to immediately begin searching for a child’s relatives.
The boy told Koenig-Warnke he had relatives in Arizona and his mother was in Africa, according to the affidavit.
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